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A couple of weeks ago I received a enquiry from Hazen Wardle about reviewing a couple of his self published books the first of which is “The Triumph Detective” a Reche Plimpton Novel, in the spirit of nothing ventured nothing gained I agreed, I must confess life at GALPOT towers rarely leaves me time for engaging in pure fiction, there is enough of it when I am looking into the myths that surround some of the vehicles I blog about.

The Triumph Detective tells the tale of how plaid attired investigator ‘Reche Plimpton’ takes on a case to investigate a temporary abduction by aliens of the ‘up there’ kind of Sarge a German shepherd dog.

In solving the mystery Reche the proprietor of ‘Elvis Investigations’ follows up a number of clues that start with an alleged alien message, alternately using either his own Triumph GT6 which his assistant Laura is not so keen on, or Laura’s Hummer as transportation on the road to solving the mystery.

The story is peppered with entertaining characters such as those from the UFO Church of His illuminated Universe and a ne’er do well neighbour of his client.

The second book ‘Resche Plimpton : Guitar Thief’, which not entirely coincidentally is launched today, carries on nicely from the first and is undoubtedly a more complete volume which sees our plaid dressed hero get framed for the theft of a broken guitar and then employed to find the guitar when it gets stolen a second time.

If I ever had any doubts about Hazen being a first time lucky writer they were completely dispelled by ‘Guitar Thief’ to the point where I am wondering if I can blag a copy of the third Resche Plimpton novel ‘Bigfoot: Triumph Enthusiast’ as and when it appears.

Without wishing to give the plot away I heartily recommend the first two Resche Plimpton Triumph Detective novels ‘The Triumph Detective‘ and ‘Guitar Thief‘ as amusing light reads available in handy e-book formats.

Alongside his writing Hazen describes himself as being ‘in over my head’ rebuilding a Triumph GT6 Coupé using the rear end panels from a Triumph Spitfire convertible.

The process of cleaning repairing and refabracation has given Hazen the opportunity to become familiar with every panel, rivet, nut and bolt of his vehicle.

Hazen has been working on his GT6 project since 1997, since when he has moved 6 times ! Hazen’s dedication to Triumph sheetmetal is faithfully documented on his blog linked here.

I hope you have enjoyed this Elvis Investigations edition of ‘Getting’ a li’l psycho on tyres’ and that you will join me again tomorrow. Don’t forget to come back now !

GALPOT Saturday’s will be returning to a potted history of Lotus Cars for the foreseeable future. Picking up the story with the Lotus 24, which although was similar to look at as the preceding Lotus 21, was a fresh space frame design for the 1962 Grand Prix season.

The Lotus 24 was primarily designed as a customer Grand Prix car using many of the same suspension components as the 1962 monocoque chassis Lotus 25 Grand Prix car which was reserved exclusively for use by the works Team Lotus.

Team Lotus entered a Lotus 24 for Jim Clark in five pre season non championship races in which he qualified on pole three times and took two victories, Team Lotus also entered a Lotus 24 for Trevor Taylor in several championship races and he scored a best 2nd place finish in the season opening Dutch Grand Prix.

In all 12 Lotus 24’s were built seven with Coventry Climax V8’s like the example above seen with David Coplowe at the wheel at last years Goodwood Revival, and a further five with BRM V8’s.

Of the customer cars Jack Brabham and Innes Ireland scored a couple of points paying 5th places in 1962 as did Jim Hall in a BRM powered example in 1963. The last appearance of a Lotus 24 in a Championship Grand Prix was in 1964 when Peter Revson drove a BRM powered car in the Italian Grand Prix to a 13th place finish.

The Lotus 24 was the last design that Lotus built specifically for customers, among the customers were Rob Walker who entered his Lotus 24 chassis ‘941’ in the 1962 non championship Mexican Grand Prix for 20 year old Ricardo Rodriguez who met his untimely demise in the car after the rear suspension collapsed causing a fatal accident during practice.

Dupont Team Zerex also entered a Lotus 24 ‘The Captain’ Roger Penske in the earlier 1962 US Grand Prix he came home 9th in his second and final Grand Prix appearance.

David Coplowe’s car shown above is chassis #947 which appears to have been originally purchased by then two time World Champion Jack Brabham who used it while he was completing his first Grand Prix car bearing his own name.

South African National Champion Syd van der Vyver acquired the car from Brabham and he rolled it in the 1962 non championship Natal Grand Prix. After repairing it Syd won several local South African races with the car before it was damaged in a garage fire.

Syd rebuilt the car but retired from the sport and the rebuilt 947 passed through several South African owners before being shipped to the USA in the 1980’s where former Lotus mechanic Cedric Selzer saw this car at Laguna Seca in 1984 when it belonged to Monte Shalett.

By the beginning of the millenium the 947 reappeared in Europe in the ownership of Martin Stretton.

My thanks to Wouter Mellissen of the Ultimatecarage.com who kindly identified the chassis number and to Cedric Selzer at The Nostalgia Forum who filled me in with a significant part of the #947’s history.

Thanks for joining me on this Customer Grand Prix Car edition of ‘Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres’, I hope you will join me again tomorrow when I’ll be celebrating Elvis’s birthday. Don’t forget to come back now !

Todays car is the 7th of the original batch of 33 Ferrari 250 GTO’s built in 1962 and quelle surprise it does not belong to the well known drummer of the rock combo Pink Floyd.

Chassis #3527 painted Russo Cina, a colour usually associated with FIAT, was purchased by Austrian Gottfried Koechert in May 1962 who entered it into the 1000 kms at the Nurburgring the same month for himself and Umberto Maglioli. The car retired from its first race with ignition failure and soon after was sold to Ecurie Francorchamps.

Belgian Lucien Bianchi drove the Ecurie Francorchamps #3527 on three occasions in 1962 nearly winning the Tour d’France until he collided with a milk truck necessitating the removal of the nose so that the car could finish the event in 7th place. Bianchi’s final appearance in the car was in the 1962 Angola GP which he won.

The car was then sold to Scuderia Filipinetti in Switzerland before finding it’s way shortly afterwards during 1963 into the hands of Swiss banker Armand Boller who drove the car to 6 class victories in hill climb events up to the end of 1964.

After withdrawing #3527 from the 1000 kms at Monza in 1965 Boller had the car converted into a road friendly spec with wind up windows, leather interior and VW rear lights by the Swiss Garber coach works.

#3527 was sold to building plant magnate Anthony Bamford in 1966 and was sold on in 1973 and again in 1984 to Steve Pilkington who had the Garber modifications removed.

Current owner international conference magnate Baron Laidlaw bought #3527 in 2005 and has recently had the car restored and painted in fetching Rosso Kev as seen here during last years Tour Britannia event as it passed through Castle Combe.

Thanks for joining me on this Rosso Kev edition of ‘Gettin a li’l psycho on tyres’ I hope you will join me again tomorrow. Don’t forget to come back now !

When E.L. Cord bought the Duesenberg Automobile & Motors Company, Inc from the Dusenberg brothers in 1926, he appears to have quickly dispensed with the services of Augie and asked Fred Dusenberg to design a vehicle that was to be the biggest, fastest and most expensive car ever made.

Mr Cord rejected several of Fred’s prototypes before agreeing that the Model J powered by a 265hp 6876 cc/419 cui straight 8 motor mounted on a 153 inch chassis was just the thing to challenge the European brands Hispano-Suiza, Isotta-Fraschini, Mercedes-Benz and Rolls-Royce for market share in the premium automotive sector.

Launched in late 1928 at the New York Car Show, the chassis, premium vehicles at the time were sold as powered chassis with bespoke bodies ordered from independent coach builders, was originally priced at US $8,500 a price that might easily be doubled and in some cases nearly tripled once fitted with a bespoke body.

The advanced double overhead cam 4 valves per cylinder motor, designed by Fred Duesenberg but built by E.L.Cords Lycoming company, could power the J from 10 mph to 90 mph in second gear and in supercharged SJ form is reputed to have been capable of 140 mph though roads where such a speed could be attained were far and few between.

Only 8 of the 481 J models produced were originally supplied with the Derham Tourster bodywork seen on this example which resides in the Haynes International Motor Museum.

Most of the chassis were built between 1929 and 1930 but the model was still being sold in 1937 by which time it had become outdated in it’s operation. This particular vehicle came to the Haynes International Motor Museum via the personal collection of former proprietor of the Los Angeles Times Otis Chandler.

Thanks for joining me on this ‘Finest Car In The World’ edition of ‘Gettin a li’l psycho on tyres’ I hope you will join me again tomorrow. Don’t forget to come back now !

The Roy Haynes designed second incarnation of the Ford Cortina MK2 was launched in 1966 with a range of 4 cylinder ‘Kent’ motors ranging 1.2 litres / 73 cui to 1.5 litres 91 cui.

Above is a 1966 1500GT with a Crayford Cabriolet Conversion seen last year at the Goodwood Revival.

The 1300 cc / 79 cui Cortina above was acquired as a used model by London based Australian Dental Surgeon ‘Doc’ Merfield who raced under the Team Boomerang banner. The ‘Doc’ fitted one of the five prototype Coventry Climax V8 ‘Godiva’ FPE Formula One motors and raced it from 1969 and 1973. In 1979 the car was discovered in East London without the engine and has been restored with a Donovan V8.

In 1967 Ford marketed a performance version of the Mk2 Cortina known as the Cortina Lotus, the reversal of the Mk1’s Lotus Cortina branding signifying that these cars were wholly manufactured by Ford where as manufacture of Mk1 Lotus Cortina was completed on the Lotus premises. The 108 mph Cortina Lotus like the one used the same Lotus developed motor as the Mk1 and the Lotus Elan. Later Cortina Lotus models were rebranded as Cortina Twin Cams. The Cortina Lotus was widely used in racing and rally competition until it was replaced by the smaller Ford Escort competition models in in 1968.

For those not interested in competing with their Cortina’s the 1600 GT powered by a ‘Kent’ motor was the performance Cortina of choice, Blown Hell above started life as a 1600 GT but has since been fitted with a supercharged 3.5 litre / 215 cui Rover V8 for drag racing.

The Cortina Estate / Station Wagon above was highly rated for it’s then unparalleled load space the car seen above at Shakespeare County Raceway started life as a Cortina ‘Super’ but has since also been fitted with a 3.5 litre / 215 cui Rover V8.

The most refined of the New Cortina models was 1600E launched in October 1967, this featured a 1600 GT Kent motor, Rostyle wheels, twin fog lights, bucket seats, sports steering wheel and instrumentation, along with luxury walnut woodgrain trim. I remember when my neighbor’s Dad showed up with a 1600E in 1968 every kid on the block including me could not wait to be taken for a ride in it !

Thanks for joining me on this New Cortina edition of ‘Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres’ I hope you will join me again tomorrow. Don’t forget to come back now !

You’ve seen the hype now here it is the Automobiliart / GALPOT Seasonal Quiz.

Each day from today until January 2nd there will be a new round of questions starting with Films and TV the remaining rounds will be Formula One, NASCAR, Indycar, Ferrari Friday, Sports Cars, Concour’s d’Elegance and Automobiliart making eight rounds in total.

There will be a total of 50 questions which break down into 120 segments. Some segments will require more than one piece of information to score a point. Only full points will be counted.

Enter your answers into the Automobiliart / GALPOT Seasonal Quiz Prize where the outright winner will be invited to choose one set of Paul Chenard Greetings Cards. Entry details at the end of the questions below.

Click on the link ’11 12 26 A:G S Q Ans P 1:8′ above and you’ll be taken to another page from which the entry form can be down loaded. Don’t forget to add your name to the bottom of the answer sheet.

Automobiliart / GALPOT Seasonal Quiz Day 1 -Films & TV

Photo Courtesy Geoffrey Horton

Question 1

a) Ole Blue Eyes is said to have owned one of these what is its (full name) ?

b) One of his rat pack buddies drove another in a film, which rat pack buddy

c) and in which film ?

3 pts

Question 2 3pts

a) An alien science fiction character took his name from this brand and model after mistaking it for a superior form of life when visiting earth, what was the original name of the science fiction character who made the mistake ?

b) What (full) name did he adopt after making the mistake ?

c) What was the name of the radio series, tv series, book and film that the character starred in ?

Question 3

a) What is the car reg YLR 11 G above (make and model) ?

b) What film did YLR 11 G feature in ?

2 pts

Question 4

a) A car of the same type as CNP 224H above stared alongside YLR 11 G what is it (Manufacturer, Model and Variant) ?

b) Who purchased the last batch of these cars and put them into storage for future use ?

2 pts

Question 5

a) What brand name was SPC 46L marketed under (brand, model number and suffixes) ?

b) Which Actor drove a car of the same type as SPC 46L in a TV series known in Sweden as ‘Snobs on the Job’ ?

2 pts

Question 6

a) What was the original first series full European name of this vehicle (manufacturer, model and variant) ?

b) What was the name of the US variant and in which film did such a car play the love interest ?

Click on the link ’11 12 26 A:G S Q Ans P 1:8′ above and you’ll be taken to another page from which the entry form can be down loaded. Don’t forget to add your name to the bottom of the answer sheet.

The overall winner will be invited to choose one set of Paul Chenard Greetings Cards from the five sets of Paul Chenard Greetings Cards, further details of which can be seen at the end of this blog. THERE WILL BE NO CASH ALTERNATIVE in the event the winner declines to claim his or her prize.

Each day a .doc answer sheet will be available for download from the blog
once you have completed the answers please forward your entries to the e-mail address at the bottom of the answer sheet.

Terms & conditions

1. The winner of the prize will be the person who scores most points from all eight days of the competition.

2. In the unlikely event of a draw, a tie breaker round will be held on Monday 16th of January to find an outright winner.

3. The answers to all 8 rounds of the quiz will also be published on Monday 16th January.

4. The overall winner will be invited to choose one set of Paul Chenard Greetings Cards from the five sets of Paul Chenard Greetings Cards, further details of which can be seen at the http://automobiliart.blogspot.com/2011/11/racing-history-greeting-cards.html. THERE WILL BE NO CASH ALTERNATIVE in the event the winner declines to claim his or her prize.

5. It is regrettable that knowledge is not an exact science, by submitting an entry you accept in good faith that the judges decision is final and no correspondence will be entered into regarding the answers or the prize either with GALPOT or Automobiliart.

One of the amazing things about the internet is the way it brings people together regardless of physical or geographic location, a case in point cropped up last year when I was looking for a photograph of McLaren drivers Denny Hulme and Peter Revson for an ongoing documentary project and found exactly what I was looking for on the Automobiliart blog run by Paul Chenard.

I e-mailed Paul and he kindly put me in touch with the owner of said photograph and thanks to our shared interest in motor racing and Gilles Villeneuve in particular Paul and I have remained in touch ever since.

Paul, who hails from Nova Scotia, trained as a graphic designer and in the 1980’s he engaged his passion for the history of Grand Prix and Sports/GT racing by collecting vintage toy racing cars, books and reference material on racing history.

In 2007 Paul decided to combine his professional work with his interest in motor racing and set up Automobiliart.com to market his works which are made using a variety of media.

Unusually, and this is why I like Paul’s work, he captures the “feeling” I get when spectating at races and looking at racing cars so well I can almost smell them.

In September I had the opportunity to meet Paul at Goodwood, above he can be seen promoting his entertaining “Silver Clouds: 1934 Grand Prix Season” limited edition 40 page hand assembled book, designed written & illustrated by Paul, a book Mercedes Benz thought so good they ordered two, of the only 50 copies to be printed, for their museum.

Last week I mentioned to Paul that I was compiling questions for a seasonal quiz and he has kindly agreed to donate one of these sets of blank greetings cards to the winner of the Automobiliart GALPOT Seasonal Quiz which will be running from December 26th to January 2nd.

The cards, which measure 15.24cm x 11.43cm, come in packs of 12 with 3 copies of 4 designs in each set, plus A6 envelopes.

The winner of the Automobiliart GALPOT Seasonal Quiz will get to choose one set of cards from either the SportsGT, Phil Hill Ferrari 156 F1 “Sharknose”, 1934 Grand Prix Season

Grand Prix Engines of the 1950’s or

Mike Hawthorn’s Race Cars sets.

Full details of the Automobiliart GALPOT Seasonal Quiz will be announced with the first questions on December 26th.

Thanks for joining me on this Automobiliart edition of “Getting’ a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me again tomorrow. Don’t forget to come back now !